I like to help, but I am VERY cautious. I’ll help at soup kitchens, where they eat the food right there and you know it is helping. I helped one guy regularly for several months, where I would get buy-one-get-one-free sandwiches from a major chain (I had a hundred coupons) and give the guy one of the two sandwiches - and he would start eating it as soon as I handed it to him. Give a homeless person anything that can be re-sold? Not in my opinion a good idea.

7
posted on 12/03/2012 7:04:45 AM PST
by Pollster1
(Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. - Ronald Reagan)

He knows that more people will give booze money to a shoeless bum. That said, the young cop will still have done a kind deed.....but he should have given that $100 to the Salvation Army for a more effective use of his money.

For years at the terminus of Market and California streets in San Francisco by the Hyatt, you could witness an African-American panhandler begging in a gold and red 49er’s varsity style jacket. It was not a temporary gig for this scam artist as I found out when I noticed that he “commuted” to work from Oakland on the BART mass transit.

12
posted on 12/03/2012 7:23:32 AM PST
by CreviceTool
( Obama is standing above the country above - above the world, he is sort of a God = Evan Thomas)

but he should have given that $100 to the Salvation Army for a more effective use of his money.”

...I disagree. $100 doesn’t go very far. But a “YouTube” video of a cop trying to help a homeless man is priceless. It went viral. I don’t give nor do I encourage giving to homeless people. I give to the SA. I do believe in the Christmas spirit and that gesture by the cop got mine re-lit.

Years ago a family member ran a coffee franchise, gave a bum some muffins when he was begging for money for food. The guy threw them out as soon as he left - he went back and caught him at it.

Know quite a few homeless. Unfortunately, most are homeless because they don’t want to live by anyone’s rules. Drugs, alcohol, simple selfishness. But there are ones who really have just fallen on horrid times, and there are always the mentally ill, who simply can’t function in society.

15
posted on 12/03/2012 7:29:13 AM PST
by I still care
(I miss my friends, bagels, and the NYC skyline - but not the taxes. I love the South.)

I actually saw that guy walking barefoot in Brooklyn and debated with myself whether to talk with him about his feet. It wasn't that cold a day, but the concrete was cold. I would have asked him whether he didn't wear shoes because he didn't want to or because he didn't have any.

The problem with homelessness is that it's not a simple problem. I suspect this guy is mentally ill. The article says his brother would welcome him into the home, but he's chosen the lifestyle. While I only looked at him shuffling down the sidewalk for a few minutes, I'd guess his ability to choose is severely limited.

>>>...I disagree. $100 doesnt go very far. But a YouTube video of a cop trying to help a homeless man is priceless. It went viral. I dont give nor do I encourage giving to homeless people. I give to the SA. I do believe in the Christmas spirit and that gesture by the cop got mine re-lit.<<<

But, when you find out the “homeless” man refuses offers to live with relatives, apparently sells the shoes for drugs or booze, and demands his “piece of the pie” from the photo of the generous cop helping his disgusting, ungrateful, self, it tends to quench any spirit of generosity in many people and replace it with a spirit of cynicism.

When I was in college I would routinely go down to DC and hang out at the Smithsonian on weekends. At the time, I had a couple retired military relatives in Alexandria, so I would drop by and visit them, then hop on the metro at Huntington Station and ride into the mall.

If you have unused fare left on a metro ticket (or multiple tickets), you can go to a ticket machine and have the fare consolidated onto a single ticket, or if you have partial fare, you can add money to it. For example if your ride is going to cost $1.00 and you have two tickets with $0.50 left on them, you can either add $0.50 to one, or have the two combined into a single ticket. You can not, however, redeem them for change.

One evening as my girlfriend and I were returning to the car after a day in the city some female approached us begging for fare. I offered her our two tickets which still had a good bit of fare left on them, and most likely would have got her anywhere she needed to go.

She not only declined them, but got angry that we hadn't offered cash. It made a lasting impression on a 19 or 20 year old...

I read a book where a homeless man shared a scam called a "food drop."

The scam works like this. Scare up enough money to buy a hamburger, which is usually pretty easy. Then go to some building and hang out in front of the building right before lunch. Take a bite out of the hamburger, then put it in a trash can.

When people start coming out for lunch, start going through the trash can. "Find" the hamburger and start eating it. People will shove money at you so you don't have to eat garbage.

So you even have to be careful giving someone a sandwich. Like another poster said, make sure they eat it in front of you.

Many years ago, my father and a couple of other professional colleagues (one of whom happened to be black) were walking back to their hotel from the conference venue in a large American city.

My Dad knew poverty having grown up on a Reservation. So did the black colleague having grown up on the mean streets of a large city. The third colleague did not, having grown up in a wealthy New York suburb and graduated from an ivy league college.

So when a homeless panhandler asks them for money, only one of the three reaches into his pocket. Guess which one.

The ivy leaguer turns to my Dad and the black colleague and remarks "I feel compelled to help those people out because there, except for the grace of God, go I."

The black colleague looks at him and says "I grew up around these people. If you gave him everything you had, including the clothes on your back, he might even thank you and he might even enjoy them for a few days. But the first time he felt he needed another drink, he would trade them off. He wouldn't change places with you long term if you made him such an offer."

31
posted on 12/03/2012 7:39:31 AM PST
by Vigilanteman
(Obama: Fake black man. Fake Messiah. Fake American. How many fakes can you fit in one Zer0?)

I knew a woman at my old church who, when I met her, was a very respectable-looking middle-aged woman, above-average intelligence. You would never in a million years guess that she had once been homeless.

She told me that before she found Christ she had been a raging alcoholic who used to sleep in the streets and beg for cash. She used to tell people that she needed the money for food, that she hadn’t eaten for days, etc. But then she’d take it right down the liquor store to buy more booze.

35
posted on 12/03/2012 7:42:54 AM PST
by rightwingintelligentsia
(Be careful of believing something just because you want it to be true.)

90% of panhandlers are not homeless. They are grifters. The 10% who are homeless, are so by choice.

My experience is that the truly homeless don't beg or panhandle. Most panhandlers don't have their stuff with them. If they have somewhere else to leave their stuff, they're not homeless.

Anyone who honestly needs temporary assistance has plenty of public and private options.

The public options are often dangerous. I wouldn't ever want to be forced to stay there. But you are correct that the truly homeless generally know where they can go to get a bed or a meal.

However, since those options prohibit the possession or use of narcotics, most homeless - more accurately described as bums - do not avail themselves of those options.

There's a lot of paranoia involved in homelessness. They need psychiatric help, but are too paranoid to get it. Also, many have a condition called "anosognosia" where they literally can't see they have a mental illness, so they don't get treatment. It's a much more difficult situation than the usual conservative bumper stickers can address.

When I was newly engaged, my bride to be and I were in a car with her sisters heading to the mall. On the off ramp was a beggar with a sign that said he was hungry. The girls all wanted to stop & give him money. I drove by & they were mad, but I stopped at a burger king, got the biggest meal they had, and got back on the free way, up to an exit and turned around to go by him again.

The girls were all happy to pull over and give him food. I wasn't done; I pulled off of the cross road into a parking lot where we could see him but were hard to see. He took a drink, and ate a few fries while looking around, then walked to a dumpster an threw the whole thing away.

The girls were really mad! They wanted to go tell him off. My point? If he was really hungry, he wouldn't be bu the freeway. This is his job. He sells felling good about yourself. He, and all like him are frauds. Find a good charity, Churches are usually good choices, donate there, it's where people in real need go.

YMMV

Delph

39
posted on 12/03/2012 7:45:35 AM PST
by DelphiUser
("You can lead a man to knowledge, but you can't make him think")

Getting your idea of just giving food is good however along with it I’d like to include some fake dollars with Bammy’s face in the middle with the inscription “In Me You Trust”. Should be legal tender and honored by any fawning leftist establishment.

it tends to quench any spirit of generosity in many people and replace it with a spirit of cynicism.”

...you’re correct. It teaches a great lesson. Give. But not to homeless people. Put some thought into your giving. I like local giving.

Two years ago, about 10 miles from where I live, a Father of 4 murdered his wife and went to jail leaving his 4 young girls completely on their own. No relatives and some friends. We gave money to a fund that was set up for them.

A few years ago I was driving home from work and stopped at a light near an overpass. There was a beggar out with a sign, “Hungry. Please Help.” I had my lunch bag in the car and hadn’t eaten my grapes or two hard-boiled eggs, so I gave them to him before the light changed.

The next day I was driving the same route, came to a stop at the same light, and there on the ground, in almost the same place, was a bag of grapes and two hard-boiled eggs, untouched. I NEVER give to beggars any more.

And this rule can apply to addicts as well. My brother is/was a pill addict. Used to come around asking for money for food and gas for his truck. I ordered a pizza, sat down with him for a bit, told him I had a 5 gallon container of gas that he could have. I took it out to his truck, filled it up, and he made up an excuse that he had to go. I said, “I thought you were hungry?”

“Well, I was looking for some cash so I can eat later,” he said.

He wasn’t interested in eating. He wasn’t hungry. He wanted money for pills and was pissed that I ordered a pizza and gave him fuel from my personal stock instead of giving him cash.

48
posted on 12/03/2012 8:04:20 AM PST
by rarestia
(It's time to water the Tree of Liberty.)

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